LSOR
by WalrusOfDestiny
Summary: A stern know-it-all, a rebellious diva, a fight-happy country bumpkin, and a girl who, frankly, is just happy to be here, all try to have as good a life as they can considering they're a team at a school for training to fight supernatural beasts. It goes as well as one would expect.
1. Prologue

Leonardo Kuros sipped a glass of cranberry juice. While not exactly the most elegant drink at the party, it was legal for him to drink it, which was definitely a plus. He was at a fancy dinner party, celebrating a major deal his family's company just underwent with the Schnee Dust Company. He was performing his usual task: analyzing each and every member of the bourgeois as they all interacted, scoping out who were friends and who were foes. The Kuros family was major in the appliance industry, and with the biggest Dust corporation on their side, it was borderline unfair. His job was to see who among the aristocratic circle was getting antsy about it.

He looked into the window he was seated next to. He had to make sure nothing was out of place. His sharp, shallow face looked as unwelcoming as ever. Not much he could do about that. His jet black hair looked neat enough though. It was parted to the side, with the bang that he had dyed blue falling gently over his forehead. He greatly enjoyed seeing the twitches of surprise and shock on people's faces at his dyed hair. It was quite funny to him.

"Aah, Leo! There you are!" Ralph called out. "Have you met Mr. Lumos?"

Leo gazed at the man next to his older brother. He gave him his most diplomatic smile, and held out his hand. "Mr. Lumos, a great pleasure."

Mr. Lumos smiled back jovially. "The pleasure is mine, my boy! Quite nice to see such manners in the young generation."

Lumos had shown brief signs of anger and wariness before shaking hands with him. Lumos was proud and paranoid, which led to a distrust of those who were overly polite and successful, particularly if they were younger. Needed regular ego stroking.

"Well, to be honest, when we have the upstanding rigor and fortitude of your generation as a model, it is truly boggling that my generation can be anything but."

"Ohoho, look at you, boy! A silvertongue if I ever saw one! I'm sure that you say that to everyone."

Leo gave a light, playful smile. "Only those worth saying it to."

Lumos laughed and slapped his brother's arm. "Your little brother has got quite the tongue on him, Raphael! Is he your secret weapon?" he asked, still chuckling.

Raphael smiled. "While I wish that I could say I taught him everything he knows, I have to give him credit for most of it. And sadly, I'll be losing that keen insight of his soon enough. Leo will be entering Beacon Academy this fall."

And the trap snapped shut. He had buttered the old man up, and Ralph had agreed with him. Lumos' microexpressions were much gentler than before. "A Hunter, my dear boy? Well, that is certainly a noble duty if ever there was one." A face of disgust. Bad move on Ralph's part, Lumos wasn't a big fan of Hunters. "Why, my brother…"

"Mr. Lumos," Ralph interrupted. "Isn't that Winter Schnee over there?"

"Why, yes, I do believe it is! I should go over and greet the lady before I lose her in the crowd again!" Lumos declared. Leo could see that having to greet so many young people bothered him greatly. But even so, he troddled off. Leo watched him go with vague interest, watched him take every step before he actually took it.

Ralph guided him over to the bar and ordered himself a drink. "So, how's the Man of a Thousand Introductions doing?"

If Leo was in the mood to smile, he would have at that joke, but he merely responded with a "Fine."

"Great work on Lumos, by the way. That 'Only those worth saying it to' line was genius. How are the rest of our guests?"

"Reluctantly enjoying themselves. A lot of them don't like us, we're too young, and the fact that you're beginning to take on a leadership position probably doesn't help."

Ralph sipped his drink, processing the information. "Old bastards. Just jealous of Dad's success."

"Not jealous. I'd say, indignant," Leo corrected.

Ralph snorted. "Like they have the right to complain about anything."

"Indeed. I'd say they have almost as little right to complain about their troubles as we do," Leo retorted.

"Alright, fair enough. Just hate dealing with them. Though I suppose you hate it far more than I do."

Leo finished his juice, not bothering to confirm the obvious. He hated dealing with these people. All of them tolerated him at best, and he could quite literally see that. He had received Aura training at a young age so as to learn to protect himself, and he had mastered his Semblance along the way. His Semblance let him see with utmost clarity. Microexpressions, muscle twitches, with his Vision he could see it all. No matter what mask his associates decided to wear, he could guess their true emotions and movements at least as quickly as they themselves could.

"Well, I guess you'll have it all out of your hair once you head over to Beacon, huh? Really gonna miss you, you know."

Leo stared at the bottom of his glass, suddenly wishing there was more cranberry juice to drink, so he could distract himself by drinking it. He really wasn't going to miss his brother that much.

"Though, y'know Leo, I don't think you'll find what you're looking for as a Hunter either. People, all people, wear masks. It's just in our nature."

Leo stared out the window, at his reflection. "I can hope, I suppose. More importantly, I'm just tired. Tired of having to wear a mask of my own. Tired of having to act like these people matter to me. I'm tired of smiling at every single person that hates me. They all do. I see it in their faces. I want to be a Hunter so I can act on my own terms, so that I do not have to wear a mask."

Leo continued staring, letting his outburst hang in the air. After he felt a warm hand clasp his shoulder. "Thanks, Leo. I know we haven't exactly made it easy on you. I am sorry for that. I am really, really proud and happy to be your brother. You're such a strong guy."

Leo kept looking out the window. He really didn't want to risk looking at his brother's face in that moment.

* * *

Selena Lavendrake did her hair and make-up. Well, technically-speaking, she perfected it. Blonde, wavy hair that fell down to her neck, her bang covering a solid fifth of her face, the other four-fifths being occupied by flawless skin. She was wearing her Huntress attire, a lovely purple button-down shirt, the color of which matched her eyes perfectly. The cuffs were slightly ruffled, drawing attention to her hands. Coupled with her stylish belt that held her Dust containers, her dark purple, creased pants, and high heels, there was literally nothing wrong with her appearance. The only reason she was even pretending to bother with it was that it gave her an excuse to not be down at the party.

It wasn't that Selena disliked parties, all the glamour, the dresses and fine dining, she loved those things. She just disliked the people at parties. Especially when they were at her parties. Selena had found that people felt this annoyingly incessant urge to speak to her when they were at a party in her name, despite Selena in no way wishing to talk to them.

A soft meow from her window made her smile immediately. Her favorite thing in the world had just arrived at her room. She opened the windows and stepped out onto her balcony. Chewing on the catnip she had left out was a tabby cat she had seen several times before. She reached down and raised her hand to it. The tabby stared at her for a moment, and shoved his head into her hand. She happily scratched its ears. Cats were far better than people. They came around selectively, got what they wanted, then left. They didn't hang around unnecessarily, didn't demand much of anything. She would own one herself if her parents allowed pets.

A knock sounded from her door. Selena grimaced. Speak of the devil. "Coming!" she cried. She quickly flicked her hand, and a circle of runes under around the cat, and a similar circle on the fence on the ground below. Suddenly, the cement beneath the cat vanished, and it fell into the circle on the balcony and out of the circle in the fence. She sent her silent apologies to the cat. Incriminating evidence removed from her balcony, she got up and walked back into her room, closing the balcony door behind her. She opened her door to see her mother. "Yes, Mother?"

Mrs. Rowena Lavendrake huffed. "Goodness, Selena!" her mother remarked. "You've been gone so long! I know you care about your looks, dear, but still! You should go down and mingle! It's your big night! It's not everyday that every person you know sings your praises. You have to milk it for all its worth!"

Selena forced herself to smile. "Of course, Mother," she responded. "I just wanted to catch my breath. There are so many people down there after all."

Her mother chuckled. "I know you're excited, sweetheart, but you have to contain it for just a little while longer."

Selena forced herself to smile harder. "You're right, Mother. It's going to be a lot more exciting from here on out."

"Yes, it is," herm other replied, beaming. "Ohhh, I'm just so proud of you! I can picture it already, our little Selena, a world-famous Huntress! You're going to make our name _mean_ something again, Selena!"

Selena felt like her cheeks might break. "Please, Mother, you're overestimating me."

"Oh, nonsense! When it comes to brains, looks, and power, a girl only needs two to be successful. You were blessed with all three, darling. You're going to go further than anyone else, I just know it!"

 _Considering I'm the "hope of the family". maybe you shouldn't be handing out advice on how to be successful,_ Selena thought bitterly. "Thank you, Mother."

"Of course, dear," her mother replied. "Now, come downstairs. You've got so many people who want to see you!"

Rowena turned around and began walking downstairs. Selena's smile slid off her face and she followed behind her mother. Once they entered the main hall, Selena put her smile back on at full force. She stared out at the sea of faces, wanting more than anything for it dry up. She stared out at the banner hanging across the the wall, "CONGRATULATIONS TO SELENA! TO AN EXCELLENT FOUR YEARS AT BEACON AND TO AN EVEN GREATER LIFE BEYOND!", wanting to burn it down. Selena really did hate parties. They were just constant reminders of everything that she never wanted.

* * *

Ouranos Arc struggled with the suitcase. The suitcase wasn't particularly confusing to anyone who wasn't him, but sadly, Ouranos never quite made it to that category. His distant cousin, Jaune, watched with a look of both mild amusement and pity, the look one would normally give to a child several years younger, not a teenager several years older. "Do you need some help, Ouran?" Jaune asked.

"Nah, I've almost figured it out. Still don't know why you guys don't just use bags. Bags are great," Ouran responded.

Jaune did not respond, out of respect for his childhood aphorisms, as he certainly had nothing nice to respond with. His cousin had arrived on their doorstep a month ago, with a wolf skin held together at the legs carrying all of his worldly belongings: a notebook, one change of clothes, a cloak, and half-eaten meat wrapped in paper. It was incredibly clear that he had never seen a comb, zipper, or deodorant -three things one usually has for travel- in his life. As Jaune watched him struggle with a suitcase full of more socially acceptable belongings, Jaune realized that Ouran still hadn't quite gotten used to kingdom life.

"Are you sure you're up to taking this test?" Jaune ventured. "I mean, you still haven't really gotten the hang of how we do things here, and you'll have to spend a year in boarding school, something you've never been to. Are you sure you can handle all that?"

"Relax, Jaune, I've got this. I've been taking notes on kingdom life all along, just check out my notebook," Ouran insisted, handing him a looseleaf notebook bound in twine, one of three items that survived the transition from the wolf bag to the suitcase. Jaune took the tome hesitantly, and opened up to the first page.

 **Ouran's List of Important Things About The Kingdom**

 **#1: Kingdom maps are very confusing. Just a bunch of lines, no landmarks drawn, ask a Valite for help if ever in need of directions.**

 **#2: Kingdoms have this thing called "traffic". Basically, the lower, darker ground is what they refer to as the street, which is weird, because it's for their cars which are like carriages but metal, faster, and horseless. What you have to walk on is called the sidewalk. If you don't follow this rule, the cars will run into you, and they are somehow fragile and break easy.**

 **#3: Kingdom people get angry easy. Even though you have no idea why their car broke, and you explain that you have no idea about anything going on, and mean no harm, they still get angry at you. Don't argue back either, that makes it worse.**

 **#4: It is bad to go barefoot. It doesn't even matter if you have paws, it is still polite to wear shoes when outside, but it is not polite to wear shoes in your own house. Apparently, this is to keep you from bringing outdoor germs into the indoors.**

 **#5: Even though kingdom people are so picky about germs, they don't have outhouses. They poop and pee in the same room they clean themselves in. When asked, Auntie only laughed and said she didn't know either. Ask one of the Beacon people.**

 **#6: There is no competition for food. Shoving family to the side and reaching across the table for more food is not okay. Neither is licking your plate clean. In the kingdom, food scraps can be wasted and go in the "sink", which is like a tiny waterfall.**

 **#7: KINGDOMS HAVE STORES DEDICATED TO FOOD. ACTUAL WALLS OF FOOD. SO MUCH FOOD .**

 **#8: You still cannot eat food until you've paid for it. It's like our scrapmetal system but they call it "lien" and there's a lot more lien than scrapmetal.**

 **#9: Zoos are not grocery stores for fresh meat. You will be arrested for trying to kill animals in the kingdoms.**

 **#10: Kingdom children are not taught how to hunt, kill, and cook animals, and will cry if you try to explain these things to them. They are not taught blacksmithing either. They are taught things like "Aljibra", which is like multiplication, but with the alphabet, but the alphabet is numbers too. It makes no sense, just stop paying attention if it comes up again.**

 **#11: Riding in cars makes you vomit. Avoid if possible.**

 **#12: Kingdoms have drinks with bubbles in them. Avoid them, they taste like pain. Also, kingdom "desserts" do not taste at all like Mom's desserts. They taste disgusting. Uncle says it is because the kingdom people eat much sweeter foods. Avoid sweet things.**

 **#13: Kingdoms have things called "comic books". These books are tinier than regular books and they have pictures! X-Ray and Vav is the best one. It comes out every Saturday. Make sure to buy it.**

 **#14: Kingdom people do not share baths. They do have one bath per family, but you cannot get in when someone else is in. Being naked in the room with another persn is considered intimate, even if you're just cleaning yourself.**

 **#15: Kingdoms have magic rectangles called Scrolls. These magic boxes can measure your Aura, let you hear and see other people who aren't near you, let you write things, and even learn things on the Valean "daytah-banks". Super useful.**

Jaune looked at the list morbidly. Each addition was a painful memory for at least one member of the Arc family. Poor Luna still hadn't gotten over #9. But one of them surprised him.

"You got hit by a car?" Jaune asked, shocked. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, day I got here," Ouran responded.

"But you were totally fine when you got here!"

"Well, duh," Ouran snorted. "I mean, I've trained to take blows from things tougher than that."

"Wow, really?" Jaune asked, amazed. "Your body's tougher than steel?! That's so cool! You're like a superhero!"

"Well, I mean, y'know, certainly not "X-Ray and Vav" cool, it's just Aura, after all."

Jaune looked at him in confusion. "What's Aura?"

Ouran froze up. He had just mentioned Aura. He wasn't supposed to do that. "It's uh, it's… what is it your parents say when they don't want to explain something to you?"

"I'll learn when I'm older?" Jaune supplied, not entirely liking where the conversation was going.

"Yeah, it's that," Ouran finished. "Excuse me, I have to… I have to use the outhouse."

Jaune watched as Ouran left the room. When he was older, huh? He stared at the issue of X-Ray and Vav that lay on Ouran's air mattress. He was just too young, he supposed. X-Ray, Vav, Ouran, they were all years older than him. He would get his chance, his time to be a hero someday. He couldn't wait. He imagined being like his cousin, unafraid of anything, even a completely new world; like his father, a man capable of providing for eight children; his grandfather, whose epic tales of heroics had kept him up at night with how cool they were. He would have his turn soon, definitely. He hoped.

Ouran sat on the toilet. His stomach felt a little queasy. He had just told a lie. A lie out of respect for his family's wishes, but a lie nonetheless. More and more, he was finding it difficult to keep this act up. It was weighing far too heavily on his conscience. He wondered, not for the first time, if he should just tell Jaune the truth. Since he was little, Jaune had never demonstrated any signs of Aura, which was extremely unusual for an Arc. One possible explanation was that Jaune's mind and body simply weren't at the level that could handle his own volume of Aura. Academies in Mistral had developed a technique to forcibly unlock a person's Aura, so, if that were the case, than his Aura could be properly unlocked. But until they had proof, they were keeping the concept of Aura a secret from Jaune, so that he wouldn't feel embarrassed of himself. So, for the duration of his visit, Ouran had to not let Jaune know about Aura. He didn't like it.

He had always been taught that to lie invited guilt and doubt, which could only lead to Grimm attacks. Furthermore, it led to a fear of consequences, which denied growth of character, something he couldn't afford if he were to achieve his dream. He supposed the first issue wasn't really a problem in the heavily-fortified kingdom, and the second issue, well, he decided that this one time, he would not tell Jaune the truth. Uncle Helos and Aunt Celes certainly knew much more than he did, and their decision, given the culture, might be the wiser one. He could forgo his personal scruples after all they had done for him.

He stood up and stared into the mirror above the sink. They really had done a lot for him. His long, scraggly blonde hair had been cut down really short to what the barber referred to as a "crew cut". He liked it. He had to deal with a lot less hair now. They had given him new clothes too. A sky-colored "T-shirt" with his emblem in a lighter blue on front. Pants they called "jeans", a little tighter than his old pair, but nothing he couldn't work with. His new sandals felt quite comfy. Obviously, they had become a little bit shredded at the toes, but there really wasn't much he could do about that. The only thing about his appearance that had carried over from the village were the old bracers on his arms, that had been protecting him for over a year now. His extended family had done so much for him, given him so much, that he owed them this one favor, regardless of his issues with it. He made his peace with that, and returned to Jaune's room.

30 minutes later, Ouran zipped his suitcase up. "Finally done!" he cheered. "Ready for the next three days!"

The reason he needed a suitcase to begin with was that he was traveling to a facility to apply to enter Beacon Academy. As someone who came from an outside village, he had to take a rigorous exam in order to prove his merit. He would spend three days at the testing site. The first day would be tests and essays, the second would be practical, physical exams, and on the third day, the important people would review his performance, find him satisfactory, and let him train to be a badass Hunter. Then he'd be one step closer to his dream. Easy.

He grinned to himself. No more lying, no more sitting around, he was soon going to be back in his element. He gleefully felt the weight of his prized possessions on his back. His twin blades, Dexia and Alistera, would be able to feel the wind rush by them once again. He was getting excited just thinking about it.

A fairly tired Jaune grinned weakly at his cousin's triumph. "Good. Hopefully the actual tests won't be quite so hard," he joked.

"Right?!" Ouran agreed. He tucked his suitcase under his arm and headed to the door. "Alright, Jaune, I'm heading out now. I'll see you in a few days. Say bye to your sisters for me."

"Do you have pencils? Eraser? Scroll?"

"All good."

"Remember that if you don't know stuff, make up for it with the physical, and keep your essay short and simple."

"Don't sweat what I don't know, and keep the essay as simple as possible, got it," Ouran repeated. He gave his cousin one last wave good-bye, and headed down the stairs.

His uncle was at the door. "Your aunt made you a breakfast," he said, handing Ouran a lunch box. "You'll have to eat in the car though, we want to get there early to be safe."

Ouran nodded, and they left the house. Ouran lifted his head to stare at the sky and feel the breeze. He smiled. It was 5:30 in the morning, his favorite time of day. He was always up at this time, but kingdom people slept in late. The morning sun had just peaked over the horizon, so the streetlights were off, and all that was about was dim stillness. The kingdom was a noisy place, and even the night was bright, but at this time of day, it was as light and as quiet as his village, and he loved it. He was glad that the first step of his legend began with this sky and this breeze.

His quiet moment of serenity was interrupted by the obnoxious beep of the car. The smile weakened slightly. He wasn't glad that the second step of his legend involved him being in a car. Breakfast would have to wait until they got there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I cannot believe you," Glynda Goodwitch fumed, pacing the office.

"Whether you believe or not does little to change the reality of the situation, I'm afraid," Ozpin replied, calmly sipping his coffee.

"Why did you just go ahead and admit that boy? The rest of the faculty is on the fence about him at best."

"As Headmaster, I feel it is my duty to admit students who are ready."

"Ready?! He failed the entire first day!"

"Not the entire day. His scores in the weaponry and Grimm portions were both commendable. And, as I said at the meeting, the boy is a member of the 3rd generation born in his village. If he had done better than he did, I would have suspected foul play."

Glynda wavered. "True… But his essays! He wrote less than any other applicant in the history of the Academy!"

"I gladly welcome some brevity during all of the ridiculous lard and fluff I have to read."

"Brevity?! On the last question, when we ask why they want to be Hunters, emphasizing the importance of the question, he wrote five words!"

"And frankly, those were the most interesting and heartfelt five words I've read all day," Ozpin responded. "Glynda, my opinion on this is final, the admissions have already been released, nothing can be done about it."

Glynda Goodwitch humphed and walked out of the office with an angry stride. Ozpin sipped his coffee and stared at the packet on his desk. It was Ouranos Arc's physical scores and written test. The first page showed his physical scores, ranking him as the top applicant of the second day. He leafed through the much less successful first day test. He turned to the last essay. Under the directions,"Why do you wish to become a Hunter? Please explain as clearly and fully as you can, as this will be a major consideration.", were a mere five words.

 **"I want to become legendary."**

* * *

Reina Mahagan walked with a slouch. The day had been pretty rough in class. She was in her senior year at Signal Academy, which was awesome and cool and meant she was one step closer to becoming a Huntress, but the day had dealt her the cruel hand of combat class first thing in the morning, coupled by the even crueler hand of having her sparring opponent be the best in class, Gai Lee. She was pretty middle of the road, but her teacher had figured "fighting a superior opponent makes you stronger". Yeah, maybe. But it definitely also makes you feel really pathetic, too.

Of course, there was another reason she was apprehensive. Today was the day: her letter from Beacon arrived today. Her next 4 years of life, as well as her career, would be decided today. Who was she kidding? She was going to get rejected. She wasn't cut out to be a Huntress. Other kids had been training all their lives to be Hunters, but she had only been at it seriously for three years. She was just some random girl they probably wrote off at the beginning.

She trudged through her street until she arrived at her house. She glanced at the mailbox, and to her shock, saw a large, white envelope sticking out. She grabbed it and eagerly flipped it over. It was to her, from Beacon Academy. She hurried inside and took a picture of it. She sent the image to her parents, along with the text, ' _Big envelope, good sign. Want me to wait for you guys?'_

Barely a second later, her father responded with, ' _If you don't open that envelope right now, I'm disowning you.'_

Reina laughed at the text, and immediately went to opening the package. She tore the top off and pulled the letter out of the envelope, her heart jumping up to her throat. She stared at it. Three phrases popped into her mind: "Ms. Mahagan", "Congratulations on your admission" and "Happy to have you, Professor Ozpin, Head of Beacon Academy". She stared at it, disbelieving. She stared at it some more, drinking it in. Then she smiled. She jumped, squealed, and danced like it was nobody's business. She had gotten in! Her! Little ol' Reina had gotten into Vale's most prestigious Hunting academy! She had made her first steps to becoming a Huntress! Her mind filled with visions of the future, her, alongside her teammates, killing Grimm, protecting innocents. She was going to become a hero! How amazing was that?!

She sent a picture of the letter to her parents, promptly receiving the proper congratulatory responses. She beamed to herself. She was so excited for tomorrow, walking into school as a Beaconite, being the coolest kid in her class for once. Her life just got ten times more amazing.

She quickly hustled upstairs to do her homework. Now that she had gotten in, she had to make sure she stayed in. Couldn't let herself drop the ball and get her acceptance revoked. After she finished that, she heard her father roll into the driveway. She hustled down to the doorway to greet him, and was delighted to see her mother was with him.

"Picked her up on my way home," he explained amidst hugs. "We both wanted to get home as quick as possible to celebrate."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and happily started pushing her out the door. "Uh, Dad, where are we going?" Reina asked.

"The Four Corners," her father replied. "I made a reservation weeks ago. I was 100% sure that you would get in, champ."

"Mhmm, I'm 100% sure you said it would be a cheer-up dinner if she didn't get in," her mother responded, smiling,

"Honey, please. I am trying to win Father of the Year right now, and you are just tossing my chances down the drain."

Reina giggled at her parents. "Still, we don't have to go right now, do we? I'm not really dressed for something so fancy."

"You look fine, sweetie," her mother said.

"And more importantly, not even the Father of the Year is willing to be downtown during rush hour, so we have to go now."

So Reina was hustled into the car as her parents took the front seats, leaving her to her clothing dilemma. She really wasn't ready to go to such a fancy restaurant as the Four Corners. She was wearing her typical outfit. A pink hoodie, headphones, brown pleated skirt, shin-high socks and sneakers didn't exactly make a "high class" outfit. Not to mention her hair. Weren't you supposed to keep hair out of your face when you were eating? She did have most of it in a ponytail, but the giant bang that largely covered her left eye might be a problem. Or would it? Did rich people really bother to adjust their million-dollar hairdos when they ate?

"You're murmuring to yourself, sweetheart," her mother called back to her.

Reina blinked and closed her mouth. She really had to fix that, one of these days.

"So, battle plan," her father spoke up. "I'm thinking, our girl just made it into the biggest school this side of the world, and we are going to the one restaurant on Patch that serves meals from every kingdom, so we should splurge. I'm thinking one of everything, and we all just have a bit of each."

"Well, not one of _everything_ ," her mother responded. "But a mini-buffet does sound lovely. Reina, are you fine with that?"

"Sounds great!"

With their battle plan in mind, the Mahagans went to the best dinner they had ever had. The waiter was giving them some odd looks, particularly when they started ordering way more plates than there were people, but Reina did her best to ignore that. They were having a great time, laughing and eating together. She didn't want to let anything get in the way of that.

Oddly enough, it was after they had gotten home, and Reina was listening to music in her room, still soaking in her achievement, that something got in the way of her good time. she heard a knock on her door. She got up and opened it to see her dad. "Hi, sweetie, I know it's late, I was just wondering if we could talk."

The atmosphere abruptly changed. Rena started mentally panicking. That was not good. There were a myriad of directions this conversation could go, none of them good. Why did they have to have a "serious talk" now? Couldn't they have waited, or better yet, planned it for later? So she could mentally prepare herself for the bomb, whatever it was, that way?

"I know we've had this talk before…"

Wait, what?

"And while I don't want to rain on your parade, and possibly lose Father of the Year, your mother and I are very concerned with the dangers of Beacon Academy and your future occupation."

Oh, thank Dust. This was an _old_ "serious talk". Crisis averted. "Dad, don't worry, I'll be fine!" Reina placated.

"Reina, you say that, but Hunters aren't known for growing old. It isn't all heroics and daring adventures out there, you know."

"It's not like it's super-safe here, either. There are muggings, White Fang attacks, car crashes, everywhere's dangerous. But that's why I'm going to Beacon, Dad! I'll be able to protect myself better than most people. I'll practically get a medal for my exemplary skill at not dying."

Her father gave a weak smile. "Just make sure you get some strong teammates to watch your back."

"You got it, Dad."

"And always remember to keep Elemek Storm's cartridges full."

"Of course, Dad."

"Because most Hunters report that the biggest cause of casualties is running out of ammo on the field."

"I know, Dad."

Her father abruptly pulled her into a hug. "Your mother and I are very proud of you. We love you very much."

Rena smiled and happily returned the hug. "Thanks, Dad. I love you guys too."

After a few seconds, her father broke away, and began to exit the room. "Night, champ."

"Good night, Dad."

Once her father left, Rena grabbed her weapons pouch. She unzipped it and pulled out every yo-yo. She unscrewed each one, making sure each Dust cartridge was full, and filling the ones that weren't. She didn't have to do this, as her current daily routine did not demand such vigilance, but it would be best to acquire the habit now. Like they always say, a careful Hunter is a breathing Hunter. She was barreling straight into a new world, and she was determined to hit the ground running. She wondered if her future teammates were in bed, feeling the same anxious determination as she was right now. Oh gosh, she really hoped they liked her. What if they didn't get along? What if they all hated her because she wasn't good enough? What if-

She heard a thump from the door. "No muttering, remember?"

Ah, that's right, No use worrying about it. She'd be fine. Probably.


	2. Meeting

Chapter 1: Meeting

(or The Misadventures of Vomit Boy, Trash Can Girl, Weird Eyes, and Sharp Shoes)

Reina shuffled aboard the airship, doing her best not to cry. Stupid parents, making everything so stupidly emotional. She was a Huntress-in-training, dammit. Huntresses didn't cry. Well, they probably did, but only over epic things, like a fallen comrade. Not from saying goodbye to their parents. She would see them over the break anyway. Geez, Reina, get it together. This was just embarrassing. She gave one last big sniffle, wiped her eyes, and and took a deep breath. This was it. She was on her way to Beacon now. This was it. No more parents, no more old friends, just her, her dream, and like, dozens of other people, Reina noted, as she took in the people around her.

These would be her classmates for the next four years. They were future friends and rivals (and, you know, it would be cool if there was a girlfriend in there too). She should start now. Make some quick conversation, learn some names, bond over the anxiety of starting out at Beacon together, but, just randomly going up to a person? What would she even say? "Hi, I'm Reina, what's your name?" She did not have a bubbly enough personality to make that not embarrassing. So, in the end, as the last few shuffled in and preparations were made, Reina elected to awkwardly stand around like the rest of them.

Then, the ship took off. Everyone's mood shifted with the altitude, as they were now officially on their way to their new home. Reina stood on tip-toes to properly see the view. It was amazing, she could see so much of the city out the window, and the view was only getting better. This airship was taking them to their goals and dreams, and the view was as grandiose as one could expect. The silence of awe and excitement was punctuated only by the sounds of someone barfing his guts out.

Wait, what? Reina whirled around, and sure enough, right by the now-sealed entryway, a boy was gagging into a trash can. Motion sickness was a cruel mistress. Reina felt the urge to go talk with him. Like, maybe give him some comfort, or ask if he needed anything. But then, she didn't want hop into the center of attention like that, particularly when the center was so… unsavory. But if she thought it was going to be embarrassing just being next to him, it must be horrible for the boy who was vomiting. He could use a friend. With that thought, she made her way over to the trash can.

"Um, excuse me, are you alright?" she asked. Smooth, Reina. Just ask the vomiting boy if he's alright.

"No, but don't worry," the boy croaked. "Just not used to _-hurf-_ this flying thing."

"You mean the airship?" she asked, concerned for his state of mind.

"Is that what this is called? Makes sense. It's like a ship, but for the air," he chuckled. His laugh promptly turned into vomit, much to Reina's horror.

"Um, I don't think you should try to talk." The boy gave a thumbs-up as approval for her advice.

"So, if you don't know what an airship is, are you from way outside the kingdom or something?" she ventured.

Another thumbs-up. Reina sucked in a breath. She had never met anyone from outside the kingdom before. And now he was her first Beacon friend. And he was still vomiting. How much did he eat this morning?

And so, Reina, for the duration of her first-ever ride to Beacon, stood idly next to a vomiting boy, occasionally asking him a yes-no question. When the ship finally stopped, the boy immediately righted himself, and, with a hurried mutter of "Need bathroom", sprinted away. As he sprinted out of view, she realized she hadn't even told him her name, and she hadn't gotten his, unless it happened to be Hurf. Way to go, Reina. She shook her head at herself. Mission Make a Friend: Non-conclusive. She walked out onto to the plaza, collected her luggage, and got moving.

Selena impatiently tapped her high heels as she waited for the initiation to start. She was in the auditorium, among throes of other people. She really didn't like being in this crowd. She could hear whispers all around her, people talking about how excited they were, sharing advice they had gotten from older siblings, everyone trying to get all buddy-buddy before school began. She scowled. Just a bunch of useless chatter. The only thing it did was grate her nerves. Oooh, look it's Beacon Academy. Wow, gee whiz! Not like I haven't seen a billion photos and knew this day was coming for months! Wow! So exciting! Hey, random person next to me, do you know how exciting this is? I'm going to tell you!

Just a bunch of idiots. It was bad enough having to deal with her parents getting so overly excited her going to school, but she figured there might be at least one sensible person among the students. Clearly, she was wrong.

She sat against the wall and crossed her arms. Then just as quickly uncrossed them. The mechanism attached to her arm that dropped her wand, Rune Queen, into her hand made for an incredibly elegant-looking move, at the price of making arm-crossing somewhat uncomfortable. She played with her Scroll to pass the time, not bothering to engage with anyone or look around. She wasn't going to put any more effort into this than she had to. She looked up when the lights eventually began to dim and saw the stage light up. Oh goodie, speeches. Their Headmaster, Ozpin, walked out onto stage. Grey hair, green muffler, suit pants and jacket, the guy look liked he had gotten dressed 50 years ago and never changed. She got a look at his face. Wow, he looked like he wanted to be here even less than she did. He looked around with a bored look of mild scorn that even she was slightly impressed by. "Students..."

Ouran did one-handed, handstand push-ups on his sleeping bag to kill time. He was bored. He had dealt with that monstrous airship thing, then he had to just stand around so the Headmaster gave a speech about potential and stuff, only to have to just sit around for a whole night after that. What a pain. The only cool part of the day had been seeing the school. He had never seen a building so tall before. It was crazy awesome. However, even the luxury of adventuring around the campus and gathering his bearings was deprived of him. They had been ordered to remain here for the night. So far, this legendary Hunter school was just a bunch of nothing. He supposed he had been warned that traditional school might not sit well with him. But its results were undeniable: his uncle oozed strength with every fiber of his being. _"A meal is only what you gather for it."_ His grandpa's old saying rang in his head. He sighed, as usual, Grandpa's wisdom prevailed. He couldn't sit around complaining about stuff. He would need to acclimate himself to the school environment to make the most of this experience, but Jaune, his trusty guide, was back in Vale. Wait, he could go find that girl who chatted with him while he was barfing! She was nice, and probably went to school before this! And if he looked for her while walking on his hands, it would be a workout too! Genius.

He looked around, trying to see if he could see her. After a few moments, he realized that he had no idea what she even looked like. She had been wearing a pink sweater right? Would she still be wearing that? And, it looked like a bunch of people were wearing pink anyway. He shrugged to himself, which in his position was really just another push-up. Looks like it was time for Plan B.

He began moving in a random direction, one hand in front of the other. As he walked, he sniffed the air. Kingdom people wore a lot of what was called "deodorant", strong smelling stuff that masked their scents. There was an incredible practical value in being able to disguise your scent that Ouran fully appreciated, but it made things a little tricky for him. Luckily, he knew that she would have at least slight traces of a scent that wouldn't be covered by deodorant: vomit. She had been next to the trash can the entire time, meaning she should still smell of it. All it took was a little searching, and that was one thing he excelled at.

As he walked around, sniffing the air, Ouran noticed he was getting stares. He supposed anyone would look at something new in their peripheral, but the weird thing was they didn't turn away after they processed it, they just kept staring. Ah, it was dark, so they probably couldn't see that well, huh? They were just trying to make out the details.

All of a sudden, he caught a slight whiff of familiarity. He brushed the useless thoughts out of his head and started towards the scent. It smelled a little like vomit, just enough for him to take it as his first lead. He walked up to the source, a guy in some kind of sleeveless T-shirt, sitting there reading a book. Well that wasn't quite right. He had been talking to a girl, not a guy, on the airship. Perhaps this guy had been around that trash can after he had left. He started to sniff the guy. He could use a stronger sample to locate her easier.

"What the fuck are you doing?" the man asked, jolting back from Ouran.

"Ah, sorry," Ouran explained. "You just smell like vomit is all. No need to worry."

Ouran continued on his way, determined to find the Trash Can Girl, when suddenly a foot jutted out in front of him. "Hold it right there, punk," the vomit-smelling guy growled. "You start sniffing me for no reason, say I smell like vomit, and then just walk away? Ain't happening."

"Well what do you want me to do then?" Ouran asked, growing irritated. Why was everyone in this place so determined to not let him do anything?

"I don't like the tone you're taking with me," the guy grumbled. "I think I'll show you that I'm not someone you can mess with."

Ouran wasn't entirely sure what this guy's deal was, but he could recognize that tone of voice anywhere. He flipped up onto his feet. "You wanna fight?" he asked eagerly. He hadn't had a spar since the exam. Jaune had told him randomly picking fights was frowned upon, but clearly he was among people of a similar mindset here. Excellent. He had been itching to rumble with somebody.

"Yeah, get ready for a beatdown, weirdo."

Ouran grinned and shifted into his stance. Trash Can Girl would have to wait.

Leo sat on his bag, reading a book, while thinking about the Professor's welcoming speech. "Knowledge can only carry you so far", fascinating. What was the missing factor then, strength? No, not that. He had called them "wasted energy, lacking in purpose, direction." Strength would do nothing to alleviate that. What then? He knew what he wanted to do, and he knew why he wanted to do it, but apparently "knowing" was not good enough. What was that missing factor? No problem had ever been too difficult for his mind before, but perhaps that was the issue. Perhaps the factor was something that could not be deduced, only experienced. Or, perhaps, he was taking the whole thing too seriously. The way Professor Ozpin spoke and looked, it was his 1000th time reciting the thing. Leo could see that he wasn't even thinking about what he was saying. More than likely he had written that for a freshman class long ago, and never bothered to write another one. He didn't seem to be a man who enjoyed pomp or ceremony. But, he had written it at some point, which meant the words were genuine.

Leo's ruminations were interrupted by the sound of a fight. He scowled and clapped his book shut. What the hell were they thinking?! Getting into a fight now, that was practically asking them to get kicked out. Leo wasn't even sure they were all proper students yet. He would have to do something about it. He strode over to where it was and looked on at the crowd gathering around the fight. Faces of mild interest or nervousness could be seen, but none were willing to actually get involved. Ridiculous, did anyone but him have common sense?

He broke through the crowd of bystanders, one fighter was on the floor, looking like the wind had been completely knocked out of him. The other, a tall blonde, was looking down at him. "Come on, one kick isn't enough to knock you out is it?" he asked.

Leo activated his Vision. Clearly, this was not someone to be taking lightly. "Excuse me," he demanded, getting the boy's attention. "Stop fighting now, or do you want to get expelled?"

The boy turned to him. Sky blue eyes, his face and skin were rough, with the occasional zit, and no sign of any chemical, make-up or otherwise, whatsoever. His sunshine-blond hair was, despite its short length, rather unkempt and scraggly. Leo recognized it as the hair belonging to the vomiting boy from the airship. Muscles were sinewy, veins visible. Lived in the wilderness, or at least somewhere physically demanding. Had little to no care for beautification, skin clearly should indications of being outside for extended periods, further validating the wilderness angle. Lack of wrinkles indicated a rather stress-free, happy attitude.

Ouran turned around to see an extremely odd sight. A guy that barely made it to his jawline, with pitch black hair, except his bang, which was somehow blue. That wasn't even the odd part. The odd part was his eyes. They freaked Ouran out. They were dark green, a normal eye color. But the way they were the kid was looking at him was _weird_. It was like he was the ultimate predator, eyes watching every single twitch Ouran made. This guy was a wolf and he was a rabbit. Ouran did not like that feeling one bit, so, hopped up on adrenaline, and suddenly forced into a panic situation, he did what made sense. He picked the boy up, and threw him across the room, removing the eyes from his vicinity.

Leo was fascinated. Typically, men attempted to somewhat restrain their emotions. That blonde however, showed all of his glee, and then, even more rare, all of his fear and discomfort upon looking at Leo. His microexpressions and shown expression were exactly the same. He'd have to inspect the boy further. Then he crashed onto a book, or more specifically, his head did.

He looked up to see that he had landed on a girl's lap, on top of her book. He glanced at her face. Long blonde hair, purple eyes, and a very frustrated look. She had an extremely smooth face and skin that was flawless, relative to most of their peers at least. The frustrated look was self-explanatory. Her face and hair suggested a stylist and a dermatologist, meaning a luxurious lifestyle. Make-up was almost perfect, meaning she had great skill in applying it, not to mention quality tools and chemical. She liked to look good. She had no issues displaying her full anger with the current situation. She was somebody who spoke her mind.

Selena was irate. Apparently, she was just "wasted energy, lacking in purpose, direction". No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get those fucking words out of her head. Seriously, it was starting to piss her off. It's not like she didn't-

All of a sudden, some random guy crashed headfirst into the book she was trying to read. Oh no, she was not in the mood to deal with this guy. She looked over to where he had come from. Clearly that big blonde kid had sent him flying. Well, he could have him back now. "Sorry, hon, but it's going to take a movie and a couple dinners first," she snapped, flicking Rune Queen to form a rune circle for Flame Dust on the back of his head. She pulled her book out from under him and activated the circle. His head shot forward, rocketed by the fire it was now spouting. She noted that she had put too much power into it, as he had just crashed into a girl at the edge of the fight. Ah well, not her problem anymore. She went back to trying to read.

Leo noted that her Semblance allowed for remote, potentially long-range Dust manipulation. Not necessarily the limits of her power either. He attempted to steer clear of bystanders, but his momentum was too much for him, and he crashed into a girl who was pulling on the tall blonde from earlier with thin strings. String that thin and durable was not sold in stores, so her Semblance was the creation and manipulation of Aura strings. Highly versatile. She had mahogany-colored hair, green eyes, and headphones. He realized she was the girl who talked with the vomiting kid on the airship. Her face was more rounded, with light acne. Her headphones indicated she was shy, or at the very least unwilling to talk in this new environment. Yet, the fact that she was restraining a mild acquaintance indicated a sense of responsibility and duty to others. He did note with interest that she swayed out of his way, resulting in them tripping over each other rather than a full-on collision. Flexibility and quick reflexes. The panic on her face indicated she was not the best at dealing with high tension situations, but she still managed to handle it well despite that. Impressive. He did note faint worry signs on her face, indicating her confidence was not quite up to par with her sense of responsibility and expectations.

Reina was distraught. She had been watching her airship friend fight, fretting about whether or not to call a teacher. She had figured her airship friend was probably just doing this as some macho thing to make up for the embarrassment of earlier, and calling a teacher would only make that worse for him, but still, she didn't want anyone to get hurt. Then some other guy had walked in and told him to stop. She had watched with horror as he literally just _threw_ the guy over her head, and had decided that he did need to be stopped. She had sent out a cascade of string from her fingertips to net the boy up, and had been managing to restrain him. Now, she dodged out of the way as the one guy that had been thrown somehow hurtled back towards her. She managed to avoid a head-on collision, but he still hit her feet, causing them both to fall.

Ouran was confused. After throwing Weird Eyes away, he had tried turning back to the fight, but couldn't. He had looked down to see strings covering his body. The kingdom had some quality twine to be that thin and still hold him. He traced the strings back to the source and saw Trash Can Girl holding them. Why was she restraining him? Was she still worried about his health? Or was she trying to tell him to play defensively? Either way, it was a nice thought. Just as he was about to tell her he was totally capable of going toe-to-toe with this guy, Weird Eyes was sent flying from some girl's lap straight into her, and then the girl who sent him flying just turned and read her book. Ouran's eyes narrowed. Somebody needed to be taught manners.

"Hey, Sharp Shoes!" Ouran bellowed. Silence reigned as everyone reacted to the peculiar statement. Reina watched with shock, and Leo with interest, as Ouran marched through the crowd and up to his addressee.

Selena looked up at him in irritation. How the hell did he not know what high heels were? Was he some sort of hick? She recognized him as the kid barfing his guts out on the airship. Had he vomited out his brain too? "I'm sorry, is 'Sharp Shoes' supposed to be me?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is," Ouran growled. "You threw Weird Eyes at Trash Can Girl and didn't even apologize to her."

Reina and Leo shared a look with each other. Neither was particularly fond of their new nickname.

"What are _you_ going on about, Vomit Boy?" Selena seethed. " _You launched a person at me first, remember?_ "

Ouran blinked and reeled back. He had done that, hadn't he? He hadn't really thought about it beyond getting Weird Eyes away from him. "So I did. I'm sorry for that," Ouran admitted. "Now, apologize to Trash Can Girl."

"See, I don't actually care enough to go over there and apologize," Selena explained. "But, since you do care, you can do it for me, and everyone can go to sleep happy. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Ouran tilted his head. "Are you on your period?" he asked, voice devoid of any embarrassment or shame.

Everyone who was still listening gawked in either horror or disgust. On the list of questions acceptable to ask in a room where everyone was fully trained to kill, "Are you on your period?" was definitely not there.

Selena was the most flabbergasted. "E-excuse me?" she asked. Leo could chart the growing rage on her face as she comprehended what had been said.

"No problem! My sister gets pretty nasty when she's hurting too!" Ouran explained, widly misunderstanding. He clapped her shoulder, grinning. "Not saying anything to anyone even when you're in that much pain! You're a tough one, Sharp Shoes! I like you! Still gonna have to apologize to Weird Eyes and Trash Can Girl obviously, but we can work that out later! For now, can I get you anything?"

Selena, unlike Ouran, continued to grow angrier. "I think, that one of us needs to cool off," she hissed. "Unfortunately, I have decided that that person is you." She flicked her wand to produce a circle of blue runes at Ouran's feet. Ouran looked down at his feet in shock. What were these blue symbols? Suddenly, the blue symbols are started generating ice. In an instant, he was trapped up to his waist.

"AGGH SNAKEBITES, THAT'S COLD!" he cursed, a blast of wind emanating from him as he flailed his arms. Leo noted that his Semblance was wind manipulation, and that he had it down to such an instinct that it reacted even to sudden emotional bursts. Impressive.

Reina immediately tied his arms together, to stop him from freaking out and hitting somebody. "Why the hell did you do that?" he cursed at Selena.

"I don't know what rock you crawled out from, Vomit Boy," Selena seethed. "But you do not ask a lady if she's on her period just because you don't lIke the way she's acting."

Ouran's eyes widened. "You don't? Okay, I'll put that on the List!" he replied, calming down instantly.

"I see," Leo muttered. "So you're from a village that's been around for a couple generations."

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Ouran asked, attempting to turn around, then looking very confused when he wasn't able to do so.

"You exhibit no innate understanding of certain societal norms, to such a degree that you made a list of notes on them. For that sort of cultural gap to exist, your village would have had to be around for… I would guess over 80 years."

"It's been around 85 years!" Ouran exclaimed. "Wow, you're really smart!"

"Why thank you, it-"

"STUDENTS! WHAT IN REMNANT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Everyone froze where they stood as the magisterial tone echoed through the hall. Leo looked towards the entryway to see Ms. Goodwitch, with an expression of rage and disbelief on her face, one that suggested she could not fully comprehend how atrocious they all were as students. Leo glanced around. It did look quite bad. There was a half-frozen boy tied up by one girl, frozen by another, while another boy just looked on. Well, he couldn't see how they wouldn't get punished for this. It was fairly well-deserved, he supposed.

Selena looked into the angry face of her teacher. She could practically hear the variety of scathing speeches she was going to get for this. Not fun at all.

Reina could frankly not believe that all this was happening. She had just gotten here, it was supposed to be nice and cool, and not this. Oh Dust, what where her parents going to say?

Ouran wasn't sure what the lady was mad about, but he hoped it involved him getting free at some point. It was _really_ cold.


	3. Partners

Chapter 2: Partners

(or Why Ouran Would Dominate at Capture the Flag)

Leo and his three cohorts stood at the cliff with the rest of their class, Professor Ozpin, and Ms. Goodwitch. However, despite all of them being in the same location, there was a key difference in situation. Leo and his friends(?) were standing on four gray squares. Everyone else was not. Leo reckoned this made a great deal of difference.

"Due to the _unprecedented_ display of immaturity you all greeted me with last night," Ms. Goodwitch announced. "There will be some changes to your initiation. If I had it my way, there wouldn't be an initiation, but luckily, your Headmaster is far more forgiving than I am."

"Thank you, Glynda," Ozpin said. "While I admire last night's… enthusiasm, let's call it, it only confirmed what I said about you all having wasted energy. As you all seem to have such energy, I think it only fit you all run through today's exercise with ease. Today, students, you will be launched into that forest right there," he gestured to the expansive forest in front of them. "That forest is currently inhabited by 20 second years, and copious amounts of Grimm. Your goal will be to survive 30 minutes in that forest without getting caught or dying. Once you land in that forest, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years. If your partner fails, you fail. Stick together. The duo closest to you in terms of time lasted will become your teammates. We will be keeping track of your Aura amounts from up here. If one of your upperclassmen forces you into the red, you will be considered caught, and if you are killed by a Grimm, you will be considered dead. Once either has happened, you will make your way back up here without bothering anybody. Any questions?"

Ouran raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"Does that 'fall into the red' thing apply to the second years as well?"

Everyone turned to look at him. Was he serious? Even Ms. Goodwitch seemed taken aback. "Yes, Mr. Arc. If a second year falls into the red, they will be forced to leave the forest," Ozpin answered.

Ouran nodded, a peculiar grin on his face.

"Now then, those are the rules as they apply to most of you," Ms. Goodwitch continued. "However, for last evening's perpetrators, they will be going half an hour earlier than the rest of you, and their timers will not start until yours do. Essentially, they must survive double the time. The reason for this punishment -and students, I cannot stress this enough- _is because you started a fight on the first night at school_."

Ouran raised his hand again. "Again, Mr. Arc?"

"But Weird Eyes and Trash Can Girl tried to stop the fighting, so how come they're getting punished too?" Ouran complained. Once again, everyone stood in silence, but this time, it was because no one had any idea what he was saying.

Leo raised his hand. "I think he means Reina and I," he clarified.

"Well, Mr. Arc, in their attempts to stop the fight, not only did they fail, but they made things worse. Misjudging your own abilities can result in the deaths of you and your comrades in the field. As such, whatever the intention, all those who were involved in the escalation of the fight are being punished," Ms. Goodwitch clarified.

Ouran nodded. That made sense. He faced forward once again.

"Now, we will begin your 30 minutes. I'm sure you all have your Landing Strategies, and wish you the- _What is it this time, Mr. Arc?_ "

"What's a Landing Strata-GEEEEEEE?!" Ouran screamed as he was flung into the air. Leo braced himself. He had been standing next to Ouran. And sure enough, he felt a violent shove from beneath him, and he was launched into the air. Reina, launched, then Selena, and with that, the four strangers were airborn.

Ouran flew through the air, steadily righting himself. Oh, "Landing Strategy". A strategy for landing. Now he just felt stupid for asking. He focused, feeling the familiar tug on his stomach whenever he used his Semblance. He forced the winds to the front of him, buffeting him, slowing him down. He slammed feet first into a tree branch, breaking it off, but he successfully caught onto the next one. He flipped onto it just as the first branch hit the ground. He immediately bolted downwind of the area. He could not let his position be revealed so easily. After all, it was a hunt, and if there was one thing he was great at, it was hunting. The only problem was the 20 to 4 odds for the first half hour. He had played enough games of Predator vs. Prey back home to know that, in games of hunting, the side with the higher number had the far greater advantage. So, all there was to do was make the numbers more even. He was in the forest, his element. He would not lose to anyone here. He smiled to himself. This was going to be so much fun.

Leo watched the trees go by with his Vision. He was moving at something like 30 mph. It would hurt quite a bit, even with Aura, if he took a full-on collision. He pulled two guns out of his jacket, and fired them into the air, stopping just as soon as his speed had slowed down enough. It would be wise to conserve bullets. He then shifted his guns into daggers, latching onto the nearest tree with them, using the friction to slow down, allowing himself to spiral to the ground. He licked his finger and felt the air, then followed the wind. It would also be wise to go downwind. He wasn't particularly stealthy so this wouldn't make much of a difference, but it was going to be a tough battle. He would use anything that could help.

Leo knew the initiation was not in their favor. It seemed like the four only had to go double time, which wasn't too bad, since the initiation wasn't built to actually fail people. Under the normal rules, anyone who didn't completely panic could survive an hour, but for the first half, they had deal with the fact that there were 5 skilled students for every 1 of them. It was in his best interest to find his partner as soon as possible, and, of the three candidates, he would prefer it be Ouran. His complete lack of any difference between his shown expressions and microexpressions interested Leo greatly.

Reina took a few calming breaths. That had been scary. Really scary. It had been 50 times worse than any one of those tower drop rides at amusement parks. And it wasn't over. She was still in midair. Any civilian who did this would definitely die. This was deadly. But she was not a normal civilian. She would not die. She had practiced her Landing Strategy in several different situations at Signal. She shot strings from her fingertips that tied themselves to passing branches. She didn't just stop letting the lines run from her hand, as at her speed, that would yank her arm off. Rather, she lengthened the line slower than the speed she was moving at, so the pull from the string still slowed her down, just not painfully so. Once she slowed down enough, she shot another string forward, lassoing a branch ahead of her, and she swung down to the ground. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do, but standing still was not an option. She had to pass this initiation no matter what. She couldn't disappoint her family and friends on Day 1. She walked forward. It was as good a direction as any, she supposed.

Selena sighed. Nobody, not even herself, heard it because the wind was whistling along at 30 miles an hour, but she did it anyway. This was too easy. She'd complete the initiation without breaking a sweat. She flicked Rune Queen, creating two circular runes, one at the branch she was about to crash into, and one on the ground. She flew straight into the branch rune, and popped out of the ground rune. Her inertia took her up to the branch rune again, and once she popped out of the ground rune, she did a flip and land a foot away from it. She erased the rune on the ground. She would just have to create another one when she was in a pinch and she'd be up on that branch, safe from harm. With her Teleportation and Dust Runes, no one would be able to even touch her. She marched forward, because it truly did not matter where she went.

It took Ouran 54 seconds from landing to find a Huntress-in-training. It took him three minutes of silent stalking to realize that she would not let her guard down in any reasonable time. He was impressed. To maintain such constant total awareness was a difficult thing to do for somebody not born in a dangerous environment. This school really was the best. Unfortunately, he was the one person who could take advantage of that vigilance. He stayed on the branches on top of her, killing off his presence and noise. Not even a Grimm could sense him when he was like this. Then, he lifted his hand. He created a breeze, one that rustled through a bush in the direction opposite of him. She immediately pointed her gun at it. "If you come out now, I won't shoot you," she announced.

Ouran alighted onto the ground. He crept up, staying directly behind her, and gripped his swords.

10 seconds later, Professor Ozpin's Scroll chimed. He glanced down on it. "It would seem Mr. Arc has taken a piece before anyone could realize they were playing a match," he noted, amused. "Ms. Akamaru has been 'captured'."

Ms. Goodwitch turned to him. "Ms. Akamaru?" she whispered, shocked. "She placed first in all surveillance and hunting tests."

"Glynda, we train Hunters, with a capital 'H'. But that boy, he was raised a hunter, lowercase. That is a world of difference. There is no doubt in my mind that right now, Mr. Arc is the most dangerous entity in that forest. And, seeing as the second years can see the same screen I'm seeing, they've all realized that there's something in that forest that can remove them from play. Now they are all wary. The fight has, mentally, been brought to them. Mr. Arc put them in check with a single move."

"You cannot sincerely believe that boy capable of thinking-"

"Glynda, I believe that that boy had this in mind the instant he raised his hand for the first time. He is a hunter, someone who has lived every day one step away from death. He knows fear and panic better than anyone else in that forest. So long as this game goes on, he is the absolute chessmaster."

Ouran fiddled with his underwear as he walked. Whatever sort of fabric kingdom underwear used, it really had a habit of riding up, especially when he got more mobile. He'd have to see if he could get different ones. While he was attempting to extract it, he saw some tracks on the ground ahead. He withdrew his hand from his pants and bent down to examine them. They were Beowolf tracks, extremely fresh, probably wouldn't take too long to catch up to them. The depth of the depressions interested him too. They had been running with force, meaning they had detected a target. He smiled. That meant if he followed these tracks, he'd have his next target. His underwear issue could wait. Not for too long though.

Leo ran along the path, attempting to evade the Beowolves. Well, not exactly "evading", more like he wanted to fight them in a terrain more advantageous to him. He had been running for a minute now, and he could see a clearing up ahead, thankfully. His breath was starting to run ragged. He reached the middle of the clearing and whirled around, watching as the Beowolves spread out in front of him.

Leo stayed still, flicking his eyes between his attackers. Every eye shift, nostril flare, and leg twitch was properly categorized and analyzed. He had a rough understanding of what their movements would be. Now time for the dance to begin. Two split off from the pack, three attacked from the front, one hung back. Showtime.

He reached behind him, for the two guns on the back of his belt. He threw them into the air above him as they shifted into daggers. Three Beowolves charged right for him. While bringing his hands back, he grabbed the four guns strapped to his hips and started juggling them. He shot six bullets, one leg, one head, each time. One of the splitters was going to attack from the left. He shifted two of his guns to knife form and pivoted to greet it. One knife used to deflect the thing's swinging claw, the next used to slash its throat. The other splitter should be attacking him from the right now. He swung his arms back, grabbing the guns he had dropped when using the knives, and pointed them at the angle where they should hit the Beowolf's head. Two splatters told him he had been correct. That left only the straggler, who was now barreling towards him. The timers on the knives he had thrown at the start went off. Their gun handles fired, and they shot off like rockets, if rockets' spins were perfectly timed to hit a Beowolf right in the head. Now blinded, it failed to notice Leo dodging out of the way and putting a gun to its head. One click later, and he no longer had any Beowolves to deal with. He looked down at the ground. One of his knives hadn't actually hit the Beowolf, but had skimmed it and landed in the ground. He glared at it. How irritating.

Leo leaned down to pick up the wayward knife. As he did, he heard a roar from behind him. Shit. He turned his head to see a larger Beowolf, clearly the most experienced in the pack, launching itself at him. It must have stayed completely out of sight in order to find an opening, rather than go for a full offensive. Well, it had found one. With his body crouched down like this, he wouldn't be able to launch a counterattack, and he wasn't capable of dodging a creature this fast. His only chance was to wait for an opening in its barrage and fire his guns through its throat, but he would not be coming out unscathed. As he braced himself for impact, however, a tremendous blast of wind hit the Bewowolf from the right and sent it flying. Leo glanced to the right, already knowing who was there. Ouran Arc smiled at him, holding his sword out in post-swing. The experienced, Aura-less, black creature of death was one thing, but how had the tall blonde clad entirely in blue gone unnoticed until now?

"Yo," Ouran greeted. "Figured you could take care of the pack yourself, so I held back, but that Beowolf looked like it was about to do a number on you."

"I'm sure I would've been the victor in the end," Leo replied. "But yes, thank you for the aid."

The Beowolf staggered up to his feet. Ouran whistled. "My windblade didn't put you down? You're a tough one, ain'tcha?"

Leo moved to finish it off but Ouran blocked his path with his sword. "Nope. You had your fun. I'll take care of this guy," he said, smiling.

Leo looked at Ouran. As expected of someone willing to start a fight at orientation, his smile was filled bloodlust. He put his guns back in his holster.

Ouran walked forward, swords at the ready. He and the Grimm circled each other. Leo watched with interest. Everything about the Grimm's posture and movement suggested it was incredibly wary of the opponent in front of in. In contrast, Ouran just looked irritated.

Ouran paced the Grimm. This always bothered him about older Grimm. They would never engage unless they were sure they could win. Sissies. Luckily, he had spent a lot of time practicing a technique to bait them into a fight. He ran forward at the beast. The Grimm lept at him, claw raised in the air for a powerful strike. Ouran grinned. Easy. He dug his claws into the ground and rocketed towards the beast, now at full speed. He snuck into the opening left by the Beowolf's raised arm before it even had time to react. He pivoted, and spun on the spot, bringing Dexia through the beast's armpit, cleaving off its arm completely. As Dexia's follow-through spun his body, he held Alisteria low for a slash at the Grimm's leg. Not a complete amputation, but certainly a deep wound. The Beowolf immediately attempted to retreat, but with only three limbs, one of them crippled, it only managed to stagger away. Ouran promptly body slammed it, pinning it to the ground. Completely immobilized, it could do nothing as Ouran thrust his blades through its neck. Ouran felt all of the body's resistance give way as the creature died. He sheathed his swords and hopped off the creature's back as it dissipated.

"Not bad," Leo praised. "Your speed and footwork are unlike any I've seen. You made much quicker work of him than I would have."

Leo cringed slightly at his praise. A tad too similar to the way he talked to the politicians and aristocrats, something he swore to abandon. Still, it wasn't a lie this time, and it was important to make a good first impression.

"I'd hope so," Oran replied. "But you're not too bad yourself. All those gun tricks you did? Totally Grimmjaw."

Leo looked at Ouran's face. Based on his somewhat impressed expression, 'Grimmjaw' was a compliment. "Thanks, partner," he remarked.

"Yeah, I guess we are partners now, huh? Well met, Weird Eyes. Glad it was somebody smart like you."

Leo winced. "Do you have to call me 'Weird Eyes'? I'm not one for nicknames."

"It's not a nickname, it's a new-moniker."

"A what?" Leo blanched.

"A new-moniker," Ouran repeated. "You know, something you call people to help you remember stuff about them? It was one of my cousin's vocab words for school. Figured you would know it."

"Do you mean a mnemonic?" Leo corrected. "A word, phrase or poem designed to help you remember something?"

Ouran scrunched up his face in concentration. "Hmmm… you know, that sounds kind of right, too."

"It is right," Leo established. "New-moniker is definitely not a word. I can see your train of logic in getting it confused, but the correct word is mnemonic."

Ouran shrugged. "Alright then. I was never good with words anyway. What should I call you?"

Leo held out his hand. "My name. Leonardo Kuros, or Leo for short."

Ouran grinned and shook it. "I'm Ouranos Arc, call me Ouran."

Leo winced. Ouran had a very tight grip. He supposed he would have to get used to it.

* * *

Reina trekked through the forest. She wasn't quite sure where she was, or how long she had been walking, she just knew she should be vigilant. Or should she be a little less vigilant, so she could conserve mental strength for when she needed it? She'd be in this forest for a while after all. But, how would she know when she needed to super-focus if she wasn't already focused? It was a dilemma.

"You murmur to yourself, you know."

Reina jumped at the sound of another person's voice. She turned to see that the tree she just walked by had a person leaning against it, specifically the person whose real name probably wasn't Sharp Shoes. Reina looked her over. She was really pretty, had great posture, and had a face that exuded both confidence and apathy. It was like she was a magazine model brought to life. Reina immediately felt awkward in her sweatshirt and jeans. "Umm, hey there," Reina stammered. "So, I guess we're partners, huh?"

"Guess so," the girl replied tersely. She held out her hand. "Selena."

Reina gratefully shook it. "Reina Mahagan, at your service."

Selena broke the handshake first. "Wonderful."

Silence quickly resumed. Reina stood there for a brief few moments, wondering if they should do something. After a few moments more, she decided they should probably do something. A significantly larger amount of moments after that, she worked up the courage to inform Selena of this fact.

"Uh, Selena, shouldn't we- shouldn't we keep moving?"

Selena shrugged. "I don't see why. Now that I've met you, I have a partner. There's literally no reason to move around until someone finds us."

"But, isn't the point that people don't find us?" Reina asked.

Selena rolled her eyes. "Look, let me show you."

She flicked her wand, and Reina watched in awe as a circle of runes appeared on the ground, then was shocked to see the ground within the circle disappear to reveal a tree canopy. "What you're looking at is the tree I landed on," Selena explained. "My runes can create portals. If someone finds us, we'll just jump in there, and then move in another direction. Rinse and repeat. Simple."

"Oh, uh, cool," Reina said. "I'll just… I'll just stand here then."

And so she did. She listlessly stood there, nothing better to do. Her partner had everything under control, and seemed to emanating a fairly strong "Don't talk to me" vibe. It seemed like she was wildly unnecessary in this whole affair. Which was fine, if she was unneeded, she was unneeded, just… she really wished her existence wasn't already pointless on the second day. There was a bit of a sting to that.

Selena looked over her new partner. She had been the one restraining the dumb blonde last night, and the one who had talked to him on the airship. A goody two-shoes type. Selena looked at her battle uniform. A dark pink hoodie with a full-length zipper, a loose, pleated skirt that matched her mahogany hair, sneakers and black socks that went halfway up her shins. The only thing that made her not totally plain was… oh no.

"Why do you have a fanny pack?" Selena asked, disdain dripping from her voice.

Reina jumped at the sudden question. She glanced down at the object of interest, emblazoned with her insignia and strapped to her hip. "Oh, uh, it's my weapons pouch," she explained, pulling out one of her yo-yos to show Selena. "I store my Dust yo-yos in there, so I can grab them when I need them."

"Right, but did you really need it to be in a fanny pack?" Selena asked.

"Well, you know, function over form." Reina withdrew into herself. Selena was really critical. Well, they were practically strangers, she supposed. She should give her the benefit of the doubt.

They stood in silence for a couple minutes. Reina played Cat's Cradle to pass the time, hoping that Selena would take notice and would remark on it, leading her to explain her Semblance, which would lead to a conversation. Selena didn't. Reina risked a brief glance at the other girl. She was pointedly examining her nails. She was clearly not going to be the one to start a conversation. Which was cool, y'know, sometimes people just didn't want to talk. But maybe she was just nervous, like Reina was. She should at least try to make conversation. But, like, how could she just start a conversation? Did they have anything in common? She didn't know. It's not like she could just start an interview or something. Wait a minute.

"Do you wanna play 20 Questions?" Reina blurted out, before she could convince herself it was a stupid idea.

Selena turned her head to look at her. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, y'know, we're partners, right? So we should probably get to know each other better, and I figured, I'm doing nothing, and you're doing nothing, so I figured y'know, this was the best time to do it, and 20 Questions is a good way to do that, because you know, it's questions," Reina finished, withering away towards the end.

Selena stared at her for a moment. Reina wished she could be a little less intimidating. Then she spoke. "Sure, why not? Like you said, I'm not doing anything."

Reina smiled. "Ok! Cool! Uhm, I'll start. What's… what's your favorite color?"

"Lavender," Selena said. "What's your favorite color?"

"Pink. I mean, I know the obvious answer is 'mahogany'," Reina answered, tugging a strand of her hair. "But I just really like pink. What's your favorite food?"

"Not really sure. Never thought about it," Selena responded. "Yours?"

"Oh, uh, peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Reina said. "I mean, pretty basic meal, but it's easy to prepare, it tastes good, and it fills you up. It's great. What's your favorite hobby?"

"I like to read," Selena responded curtly. "What's your favorite hobby?"

"Oh, uh, I like to listen to music mostly," Reina said. "What kind of books do you read?"

"I'm going to pass on that question."

"Aw, c'mon, you don't have to be embarrassed," Reina said. "You can tell me. We're partners!"

"I'm not embarrassed," Selena growled, menacing glare back on in full force. She turned back to her nails, clearly indicating the end of the conversation.

Reina stared up at the leaves. This was fine. Her partner had answered most of the questions asked. Technically. She had cut it off when she felt things got too personal for their level of relationship, which was important and understandable. Granted, not being close enough to know her book preferences was really not close at all, but they had only known each other for a few minutes. They had months to get to know each other better… by standing in total silence. Yup, this was perfectly fine.

Oh sweet Dust this was going to be a long day.


End file.
